"Happy Birthday, TD!" a chorus of ponies calls out, triggering a small smile from me, despite the event.
Yep, I turn thirty today. The big three zero. Three decades of life. All that jazz. Not a spry guy in his twenties anymore, am I? I mean, I'm still spry, I'm not that old, but thirty... man.
Pinkie Pie, being Pinkie Pie of course, had to throw me a birthday party, especially for a milestone birthday like this one. She's been doing that a fair amount recently. All of the Mane Six and Cheerilee had their thirtieth birthdays last year, so I've finally caught up in that regard. Most of Cheerilee's old class is starting to turn eighteen too, so I'm beginning to feel old.
Of course, Pinkie Pie's decorations haven't helped in that regard. My party is decorated like something that a goth would want to have for their party. A lot of the decorations are black with white gravestones imprinted on them saying "you're getting old." To top it off, a giant fake pony Death dummy, complete with scythe, has been set up in a corner with a cardboard speech bubble over it saying "don't worry, I'm just here for the cake."
She's just joking, of course, and I'm taking it in good humor. I laughed when I saw the decorations. My family did the same thing for my father when he turned thirty back on Earth. Now I've just blown out the candles of my birthday cake, a gravestone of course, and Pinkie Pie is cutting it up for everyone. My party is fairly small compared to what Pinkie usually throws, just Cheerilee, Oswald, the Mane Six and whichever of Cheerilee's old class could show up, so the Crusaders, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, Featherweight, Twist, Dinky and Berry Pinch.
Cheerilee has her forelegs wrapped around my arm, and nuzzles my shoulder as I take my slice of cake. "Happy Birthday, TD."
I smile at her and rest the side of my head on the top of hers. "Thanks. Love you, Cheerilee."
"I love you too." Cheerilee accepts a piece of cake from Pinkie Pie who is smiling knowingly at the two of us. Well, probably more at me, considering what I've been up to lately. Oswald chirrups on the back of my chair and nuzzles the back of my neck. I must say I'm feeling rather loved at the moment, which is nice. I've been dreading this particular birthday for a while now, and as such, I can't completely get into the party. Mostly, but not completely.
Cheerilee notices the fact that I'm a little down; that my smile isn't quite as wide as it could be or that it doesn't reach my eyes. It's hard to hide emotions from her. We've been dating for close to a year now. She frowns at me and tilts her head. "Is something wrong, TD? Were the decorations we picked out too macabre, or something like that?"
I snort and take a bite of my cake as I shake my head. "No, nothing like that. It's just..." What smile I have fades, and I quietly sigh. "Firstly, thirty is kind of a rough birthday. I mean, there is no denying that I'm getting older now. When you're in your twenties, you're still in the same decade range as the time when you were twenty and twenty one, and so on. There's still a certain youth to being even twenty nine. Thirty, though? Thirty is different. Now the back of my mind tells me that I'm on the wrong side of being young and carefree. Now my adult life has well and truly begun." I give my marefriend a wry smile. "Despite the fact that my twenties were filled with enough things that would make any guy have to grow up immediately if he wanted to make it through them."
Cheerilee smiles at me and lovingly rubs my forearm. "It's going to be fine, TD. You're going to make it through everything and be okay. You've come too far to let something as silly as a birthday signifying a new decade of your life get you down."
I chuckle and move my free arm to run my fingers through her mane the way she has come to like. "Yeah, it's not that bad. Or should I say, it's not the number one thing worrying me."
Cheerilee raises an eyebrow and tilts her head. "Then what is?"
"It's how long I've been here." I motion around. "How long I've been in Equestria. Ten years in a few months. That's half as long as I was on Earth. In another ten years I'll have spent more time here than I did on Earth." I grimace. "Once I hit that point, am I pretty much an Equestrian? Am I an Equestrian now, having spent ten years here with no chance of getting back?"
Cheerilee pauses for a moment, carefully considering what I'm getting at. She takes a bite of her cake while she thinks everything over. After a few seconds, she swallows her cake and slowly nods. "TD, I don't think that you're an Equestrian, now or ever. The man that I love would never see himself that way. He's too devoted to his home planet. So much that he traveled all of the known world trying to get back to it." Cheerilee gives me a wry smile of her own. "Do you really think that you're an Equestrian, TD? Sure you've lived here a long time and Creator willing you're going to be around with me for far longer than that, but you're still from Earth, as far as I'm concerned. I mean, back on Earth, if somehuman went to live somewhere else for a long time, are they part of that country?"
I shrug. "Depends on the person, how long they're there, and how much they like it there, which is what's bugging me a little bit." I lean back in my chair and pull a bowl of peanuts over to me so Oswald can have something to nibble on. "As much as a younger me would hate it, Equestria is my home. When I found out that I couldn't go back to Earth, I could have gone anywhere to live except for Griffonia and maybe some of the minotaur lands, but I chose here. Like it or not, I'll be spending the vast majority of my life here." I tilt my head. "So does that make me an Equestrian at least on some level? I mean, I'm an Equestrian citizen in all but name."
"TD..." Cheerilee chuckles lightly and nuzzles my arm. "Does it really matter? In the end you're here, and we're together, and I don't want anything to change that. Think about this: if you are an Equestrian or not, how does your life change? Does the direction it takes differ if you happen to be one or the other?"
I frown thoughtfully and lean back in my chair as best as I can, given that it's a touch small for me. "Huh..." I give a vaguely amused scoff. "Now that you mention it, I guess it doesn't change all that much if I'm one or the other." I smirk at Cheerilee. "I guess I'm just freaking out mostly because of the age thing. You know how it goes. You get older like this and you wonder what you're life is going to be and what it is."
"Oh I know that for sure, TD," Cheerilee says with a smile. "You recall how much I was freaking out during my thirtieth birthday last year? Saying that I didn't know if I was really that good of a teacher?"
I chuckle and take my arm out of her grasp so that I can give her a little hug. "Yes, I do remember that. I told you that you were a wonderful teacher and that you've touched the lives of all of your students. They're doing great."
"Exactly. You got my through my mental crisis and now I'm doing the same to you." Cheerilee grabs my arm again and nuzzles my shoulder. "What are significant others for if not for letting the other know when they're being the wrong kind of silly?"
I can't help but laugh at that. With Cheerilee and I, that's been a big part of our relationship, and it's really strengthened it. I know that I've definitely had my moments when I need somebody to talk some sense in me, and Cheerilee is not afraid to do that, and vice versa.
She's... she's the best that a guy could possibly want in a marefriend, human or no. Our relationship isn't perfect, but... all things considered it's pretty good. I mean, I love her, and she loves me. As I finish my slice of cake and talk to some of my other party guests, I begin to understand something. I look over at Cheerilee who is just... happy to be around me for the sake of it, and I'm happy to be around her. I've never had that with anyone else.
As the party goes on around me and I start thinking about life, I realize, I mean, truly realize that I have something really amazing with this mare, odd as it sounds.
And you know something? I don't want that to get away.
* * * *
The party goes well, and I'm not so freaked out about turning thirty anymore. I mean, once the day is over and everybody isn't focusing on the fact that I'm thirty now, it's easier to focus on other things that freak me out.
Heh, I don't know why this is so daunting. I mean, she's going to be all for it. We've been dating for around a year now. So... this is the next logical step, yeah? Okay, maybe I'm not freaking out about that as much as I am that everything goes perfectly. I only get one shot at this, so I really have to make it count.
I exit my house and walk a few blocks down to the jewelry shop owned by Diamond Tiara. I think that she would really appreciate it if I did what I'm going to do there, and she does actually have the best prices around. I open the door to her shop and a small bell above the doorway jingles, letting Diamond Tiara know she has a customer. She is cleaning a display case with her mane done up in a bun to keep it out of her eyes while she works. She turns to me when she hears the bell and smiles. She sets the rag and cleaner down next to the case and trots over to me.
"Good morning, TD, Oswald." She extends a hoof and I bump it with my fist. "You're here earlier than usual. I didn't think that I had you on my schedule to clean the windows today but..." DT shrugs. "I've forgotten before."
I give a single, nervous chuckle and shake my head. "I'm not here for work, Tiara. I'm actually here to do a little shopping."
Diamond Tiara raises and eyebrow and the corners of her mouth subtly curve up. "Ah, you and Cheerilee have your anniversary coming up, don't you? Gonna get her something nice for whatever you're doing?" Diamond Tiara smiles and nudges me in the direction of a display case of fine necklaces. "If I may suggest something here? Or maybe a bracelet of some sort?"
"Uh, actually..." I gently clear my throat and scratch the back of my neck. "I would like to see your... uh... rings."
"Rings?" Diamond Tiara tilts her head, but after a few seconds she breaks out in a wide smile. "Rings. Right! Yes, I have some excellent stuff for you to look at!" Diamond Tiara walks behind the counter and reaches under it to produce two black felt cases full of rings. "Made all of these myself. I've got rings for everything you could want, though most of my customers for rings are unicorns, but I've got some nice chain necklaces to put the rings on for non-unicorn clients."
"Good." I walk over to the cases and begin examining the rings. "Yeah, these do look nice."
Diamond Tiara's smile widens and she puffs out her chest slightly. "Yes, I know. I'm pretty good at these. I've got rings that will tell a mare anything that you want to say. 'I love you,' 'I think this will make you even more beautiful,' 'happy anniversary,' and so on." Diamond Tiara pushed the cases closer to me so that I could get a better look. "When you give this ring to Ms. Cheerilee, what do you want that gift giving to say to her?"
"When she receives this ring, the message I'm going to try to get across is 'Cheerilee, will you marry me?'"
I hear a quiet gasp and thud, and look up to see that Diamond Tiara is now sitting on the floor, her eyes wide and her forehooves over her mouth. I think I broke her brain a little bit. It's a solid ten seconds before she even so much as blinks.
"TD..." Diamond Tiara lowers her hooves and stares up at me. "Are you saying that... you're going to ask Ms. Cheerilee to marry you?!"
I smile and put a finger on one of the rings. "Yes, as a matter of fact. That is what I am saying."
Diamond Tiara lets out a loud squeal and shoots to her hooves, a beaming smile on her face. "Silver Spoon, Silver Spoon, Silver Spoon!"
I hear groaning and the sound of hooves on steps as Silver Spoon comes down the stairs of the flat they share above the store. Her mane is disheveled, and there are bags under her eyes. "What is it, DT? I was sleeping. You know I worked late last night."
Diamond Tiara ignores her friend's grumbles and runs over to her, throwing one foreleg over her shoulders and pointing at me with the other. "TD's gonna ask Ms. Cheerilee if she wants to marry him!"
All trace of fatigue evaporates from Silver Spoon's expression, and she gasps and widens her eyes just like Diamond Tiara did. "No... way."
I raise my hands in a sort of shrug. "Way. I'm here to buy the ring."
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon let out a synchronized squeal of pure delight so high pitched that I think the fruit bats from Applejack's orchards might be on their way over. Oswald ruffles his feathers and lets out a low, guttural squawk that I had come to recognize as annoyance, so I assume he didn't care for the noise either. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon begin bouncing around me and singing.
"TD's marrying Ms. Cheerilee! TD's marrying Ms. Cheerilee!"
I chuckle and turn my attention back to the rings. "Well, not quite yet. I have to, you know, buy the ring and propose first."
The two stop bouncing and immediately rushed behind the counter. Diamond Tiara grabs the cases and pulls them back under the counter. "Unacceptable scrap metal, that's what those are."
I raise and eyebrow and tilt my head with a frown. "Uh... I thought that they were pretty good."
"Exactly!" Diamond Tiara shuts and locks the small glass doors to the case housing the rings. "They were only 'pretty good!' We need something a lot better than 'pretty good' if you're going to be proposing to Ms. Cheerilee!"
"Well, I..."
"Come along, TD!" Diamond Tiara walks out from behind the counter and begins nudging me to a back room of the shop. "Spoon, flip the sign. Diamond Jewelers is temporarily closed while I make something actually worth this occasion."
"You got it, DT!" Spoon says as she walks from behind the counter to the door.
"Excellent. Now you..." Tiara continues nudging me towards the room, despite the fact that I'm going willingly now. I know the mares around here. If they get something in their heads you cannot talk them out of it. "Are going to come with me and we're going to design a ring special for Ms. Cheerilee! We're going to get her the best ring ever if it's the last thing I do!"
Well, at least she's in full support of the idea.
I enter the room that Tiara is pushing me towards where she has her soldering set and she directs me towards a chair. "This shouldn't take too long, but you might want to get comfortable." Diamond Tiara cracks her neck and puts on a pair of safety goggles. "This is going to be something you're going to remember forever."
Silver Spoon walks in just as Diamond Tiara gets her materials together and gives me a wide smile. "She's in The Diamond Zone now, TD! Your ring for Ms. Cheerilee is going to be amazing! But not as amazing as her future husband, I’ll say!”
I lean back in the chair and Oswald perches on the back of it as Diamond Tiara begins making the ring. I really hope it's amazing. I mean, I'm sure it will be, but I hope it's... perfect, you know? Like the second I look at it I know it's the ring for her.
As Diamond Tiara works, Silver Spoon drills me for details about my proposal. I tell her that I'd rather keep that a secret for now, as I want to make sure that everything works, but I do tell her that I'm planning on doing it this upcoming Saturday, as it is my turn to choose what we're doing on that particular date.
I've got everything planned out in my mind, and it is my dearest hope that it all goes smoothly. I mean, I'm sure even if a few things go wrong, the fact that I asked her if she would marry me and she said yes will make everything else seem a little less important. Now, if I don't do a good job at it then it'll be disappointing, so I have some pretty cool plans.
Diamond Tiara is finished surprisingly fast for what she's doing. It's not more than half an hour before she pushes up her safety goggles and brushes aside a loose strand of mane. She lets the ring cool by spraying some substance on it out of a squirt bottle. Silver Spoon glances over at me and giggles. "Just you wait, TD, this ring is going to be amazing!"
"It is." Diamond Tiara's voice cuts through the room as she stares down at her latest creation. "It is. This... this is something that I think you can give to Ms. Cheerilee when you ask her to marry you."
For goodness sakes, the suspense is killing me. I mean, this is my freaking engagement ring we're talking about here! I want to see it! Thankfully Diamond Tiara feels that she doesn't have to keep the suspense up too long. She takes a deep breath and slowly, gently, places the ring on a padded tray and walks over to me with the tray in her mouth, allowing me to see the ring for the first time.
Wow.
She's right, it is amazing.
It's two kinds of metal, one green and one blue, wrapping around each other before meeting at the top of the ring to form the base for the small diamond that she has chosen for the ring. The metals have a nice shine to them, making the ring look like it's glowing. Diamond Tiara puts the tray down on a table next to me and smiles fondly at the ring as I gently pick it up to examine it.
"The metal is gold, enchanted to look like different colors. The blue represents Earth and the green Equestria. Two hearts meeting as one."
"It's..." I blink once. "Amazing. Yeah, this is definitely the one." I gently put the ring back down on the tray. "How much?"
Silver Spoon squeaks again and Diamond Tiara smirks at me. "Hundred bits."
"A hundred bits?" I look back down at the ring. "That's all?"
"Yep." Diamond Tiara's smirk widens ever so slightly. "Why? Would you like me to charge you more?"
"No, that's not it," I say with a wave of my hand. "It's just that I've looked one or two other places for rings and, well, a ring like this would be easily eight or nine hundred there."
Diamond Tiara scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Sharks. The lot of them. And they wonder why ponies are starting to come here a lot more often." She shakes her head and nudges the tray closer to me. "Hundred bits for the ring. Another ten for the gold chain, okay?"
I nod and stand up. "Yes. Definitely okay."
"Excellent." Diamond Tiara picks the tray up in her mouth and we all go to the front of the store. Diamond Tiara sets the ring down on the counter and picks a nice gold chain that she loops through the ring to create a nice necklace. I pull out my bit bag and set down six twenty bit coins on the countertop, which Silver Spoon scoops up and puts in a cash register. She hoofs me my ten bits worth of change while Diamond Tiara puts the necklace and ring in a small black box.
"Here you are, TD." She extends her hoof and I take the box from her, gently putting it in a brown paper bag that Silver Spoon gets for me. "Good luck, TD." Diamond Tiara smiles and nudges my side. "Ms. Cheerilee is a very lucky mare, do you know that?"
I snort and a small smile crosses my face. "Well, I think I'm the luckier one in this relationship, but I do think that she will be very happy."
"She'll be ecstatic, TD!" Silver Spoon cries. "I hope everything goes perfectly!"
"Me too, Spoon." I take a deep breath and run a hand through my hair. "Me too."
* * * *
Saturday rolls around quite quickly, especially since I bought the ring on Thursday. I told Cheerilee that we were spending the day together, so she made sure to get all of her grading done earlier than that. As per usual, I drop Oswald off at Fluttershy's so that Cheerilee and I can have some alone time.
Now Cheerilee and I are walking through town, me having just picked her up at her house. I'm carrying a picnic basket filled with sandwiches, drinks...
And the ring.
Cheerilee doesn't know where we're going yet, which is good. All she knows is that we're having a picnic together. I think she presumes the local park, but not quite.
We're relatively silent as we walk through town, which is fine by me. I have butterflies in my stomach as it is, and I don't want to give away anything. If we talk and I sound nervous then she'll know that something is up and this won't be as good. We walk past the local park, but as we do I notice that Cheerilee glances at it, almost as though she expected that we would go there. Well, we've gone there for picnics before, but today is a little different. She doesn't seem to mind, though. I know she trusts me.
Within another five minutes we've reached our destination. I smile down at my marefriend and nod when she looks up at me.
"TD, not that I hate spending time with you anywhere, but I'm curious as to why you chose this random field."
I chuckle and spread the picnic blanked out on the ground. "This isn't just any field, this is the field where the Crusaders found me when I was first transported here."
"Oh?" Cheerilee frowns and looks around. "Yes. That's right, it is." Her frown turns into a smile and she sits down on the blanket. "Good choice for a spot, TD."
I sit down next to her and open up the basket. I take out two paper plates and put our respective sandwiches on and hand out the water bottles. We sit in silence and eat for a few minutes, her eyes never leaving me. I look up from my food and see that there is a hint of uncertainty in her eyes.
"TD? Is something wrong?" She tilts her head. "You've been unusually quiet today."
I smirk and give an amused snort. "Yeah, I suppose that I have been. It's just..." I run a hand through my hair. "I've been thinking, you know? About us. Our anniversary is coming up, you know, so I was thinking about our relationship. Where we've been and all that."
Cheerilee nods and finishes her sandwich. "Makes sense. I've had similar thoughts."
"Yeah." My hand inches towards the picnic basket. "There's a lot to think about. There's a lot that I had to consider, and still have to consider. A movie I saw back on Earth, can't quite recall the name, had a quote in it that my parents said perfectly described relationships like ours." I took a deep breath. "I'm gonna lean up against you, you just lean right back against me. This way we don't have to sleep with our heads in the mud."
Cheerilee smiles and puts a hoof on my knee. "I'd say that about sums up relationships like ours, yes."
"Yep." I nod and pull the basket right over to me. "See the thing is, though, that I was doing some thinking, and I realize that... I never want to sleep with my head in the mud, so to speak, and I don't want you to either. What we have, Cheerilee, well, it's amazing, and its ours."
Cheerilee's smile slowly starts fading, and her eyes start going wide as what I'm saying begins to click for her, but I keep going.
"Life can be hard, Cheerilee. I know that better than most. We can get through it together. We can lean on each other when the rain comes pouring down so neither one of us has to sleep in the mud. Then, when the rain stops, we'll help each other up and keep right on going. Together. Forever." I reach into the basket and my hand grasps the little black box. Cheerilee stands up and puts a hoof over her mouth, tears shimmering in the corners of her eyes. "We can do it, Cheerilee. I've gone through a lot of life and done a lot of things. Some good, some not so fun, but I know without a doubt that we can weather any hardships, and... I want to do that with you. So..." I shift until I am on one knee and produce the black box. Cheerilee quietly gasps and the first tear streaks down her face.
"Cheerilee..." I open up the box revealing the ring. "Will you marry me?"
"TD..." Her voice comes out barely louder than a whisper, and she reaches out to gently touch the ring. "TD... I..." Another tear streaks out, but she slowly begins nodding. "Y-yes, TD." A single sob escapes Cheerilee's throat, but I know that her tears are tears of joy. "Yes. Yes!" There is much more conviction in her voice, and her face is nearly split by the smile she has on. "Yes, TD! I will!"
With my own wide smile, I take the ring out of the box. Cheerilee lowers her head, allowing me to slip the necklace around her neck. It fits perfectly. Cheerilee looks back up at me, her eyes puffy and red, but her smile wider than I have ever seen it. Before I can say anything else, Cheerilee throws her forelegs around me in a crushing hug, something that I have no problem returning. Cheerilee leans her head against my shoulder and nuzzles it.
"I love you, TD."
"I love you, Cheerilee." I run my fingers through her mane and lean my head down on hers, relishing the fact that I have never been happier in my entire ten years in Equestria.
No, forget that. I've never been happier in my entire life, and for the first time in a long, long time, I feel that things are going to work out just fine.